Those Innocuous Moments
by Mellony
Summary: A series of drabbles involving Kurt and the surprised realizations of those around him as he adjusts to a new, non-bullying, environment.
1. Chapter 1

Glee: Those Innocuous Moments

Summary: A series of drabbles involving Kurt and the surprised realizations of those around him as he adjusts to a new, non-bullying, environment.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

AN: Yes, I know that Kurt doesn't dorm but that will show up in later drabbles as it just works for some of them. Also warnings for mentions of violence, bulling, and possibly molestation (Not necessarily in this section but overall.)

1.) Of Bathrooms

The boys were laughing quietly as the exited the large auditorium. A guest lecturer had come to the school at the request of one of the Literature Professors. Every student who attended the after-hours event and wrote a paper on it would receive extra-credit so it had been easy for Blaine to convince Kurt (newly transferred and still setting in) to accompany him for the evening. The speaker had been surprisingly interesting, cracking jokes and popping out amusing one-liners to keep the attention his audience. Kurt had really enjoyed himself and the whole experience gave him more hope that he really would be able to handle his transfer to Dalton. While most of the other boys had left already, Kurt and Blaine had hung around afterward avidly discussing the presentation and reiterating their favorite lines.

"Hey, Kurt. Do you mind if we swing by the restrooms for a sec?"

"That sounds like a good idea actually. Where are-ah!" Kurt spied the rooms off to the side and made his way forward. "Uh Kurt?"

"Hmm?" The boy turned with his hand on the door to face his suddenly awkward companion. Blaine had a weird expression on his face half what-the-hell-are-you-doing and half blush. Kurt felt like a stone had suddenly been dropped in his stomach and wondered what he could have possible done to elicit _that_ expression within the last three seconds.

"That's the girl's room."

Kurt looked at the door in front of him. Sure enough there was the standard 'female' stick figure on the plack bolted door before him. A red flush blossomed across his face. _Oh_.

"Sorry. I guess I'm so used using the ones at McKinley. I didn't even notice."

Now Blaine just looked confused. "But you're a boy. Why…?"

Kurt gave a little mental sigh. Things like this were always so awkward to explain. "I'm gay Blaine." _Well that both sounded redundant and went straight over his head_, Kurt thought as the still-confused expression on Blaine's face stated to morph into a slightly offended one. He hurried to explain. "In Lima pretty much _everyone_ knows I'm gay. Hell," he snorted, "frankly most of them knew that before I did. Anyway, the boys didn't _want_ me to use the same bathroom as them and over the years it's become increasing dangerous for me to do so. The girl's room is just stalls and sinks anyway so it's not like I can see anything inappropriate, though like I said _everyone knows _so the girls don't mind because they know I'm not trying to perv on them or anything."

Blaine's gaze filled with understanding and he rested a gentle had on Kurt's arm. He opened his mouth as if to say something only to pause and let out a slightly embarrassed cough. "Well, all I guess I can say is that you don't have to worry about that sort of thing here. So you can once again feel free to use the ones actually designed for our gender."

Kurt let a bemused smile cross his face as Blaine tried to lighten the situation and followed the other boy into the restroom across the way.

Blaine opened the door with a grand gesture (obviously still working on lifting Kurt's mood) "May I present – for your amusement and convenience, the male restroom."

Kurt just stared at it for a moment. "I forgot how awful most male bathrooms are. It's filthy. And it _smells_."

Blaine surveyed the room in front of him. "That's true. However compared to most it's actually not that bad." His eyebrow lifted in amusement as Kurt's nose crinkled in disgust.

"Maybe I should just stick to being an honorary girl." He'd half turned to leave before Blaine caught his arm and pulled him inside laughing. "Nope. You're going to have to deal with the nastier sides of boy life at some point so you might as well start getting used to it now."

Kurt just pouted before sighing in defeat.


	2. Chapter 2

2.) Bruises

Nick wasn't sure what to think about his new roommate. His original one, Thomas Connells, had gotten busted back in October for having weed and his parents had shipped him off to some military school to 'straighten him out.' The two weeks afterwards had been a blissful, roommate-less, heaven and he was kind of disappointed to see it end. While he didn't necessarily _mind_ having a roommate, staying with Jeff last year had been pretty cool, having a single for the rest of the year would have been _awesome_ but the mid-semester transfer had put an end to that.

Late transfers were pretty rare but they did happen. Blaine had been the last one, two years ago, when Nick was just a freshman. Since Nick was in the Warblers, of which Blaine was the lead soloist and so therefore he saw him regularly even though they were in different grades, he knew a bit more about the reasons for the switch than most. As in that it had involved him being bullied because he was gay. He also knew that Kurt, his new roommate, had transferred for similar reasons not long after meeting Blaine himself.

So he'd kind of known that Kurt had had a hard time, and why, even before he moved in.

And when he'd met the boy it was even easier to see _why_.

He, well he wasn't small exactly (about 5' 10"), but he was slight and rather effeminate for a boy. He had really pale white skin and was dressed as if he'd just stepped out of a fashion mag. He actually _flounced_ when walked and his normal standing position had his hip cocked out to the side and one (limp wristed) hand propped up as if just waiting to make one of those 'snappy-motions'. When he opened his mouth what poured out was a vivacious vocabulary of long well enunciated words in a voice that seemed to have skipped puberty all together.

In other words he was obviously, blatantly, flamingly gay and, while Nick didn't have any issue with that, it was easy to see why he'd been teased or picked on or whatever that had eventually led him to transferring.

It had been about a week since the other boy had moved in and Nick had mostly gotten over the fact that he had to share again. Kurt didn't seem too bad. They hadn't really talked much (Nick wasn't a big talker and Kurt seemed to be surprisingly shy when they were alone considering Nick already knew how chatty the boy could get when Nick caught him on the phone with one of his friends or when he went out with Blaine) other than the occasional 'hi', question about where something was, or passing along the occasional message from someone who stopped in when the other was out. He was getting used to being woken by Kurt's alarm at 5:30 every morning (when the boy started his facial routine or whatever) and could now go straight back to sleep for the extra hour until his own dragged him out of bed so he could get ready for breakfast. He was getting used to having music (anything from Lady Gaga to Sound of Music) playing in the background whenever Kurt was in the room as well as the boy's voice singing along when he wasn't working. Kurt was polite about it all, obviously trying to be considerate of Nick, not being too loud or leaving the room when Nick was studying if he wasn't doing the same, and Nick was doing his best to return the favor. Everything seemed to be working out alright but it was still new and Nick could tell that Kurt was still tense around him.

Mostly he figured that Kurt was just adjusting, trying to get used to a new school and having a roommate for the first time (he'd over heard Kurt mentioning that once).

He'd never really thought more about it. Not until the day he walked in on Kurt changing and saw the bruises all over his back.

Ugly marks of deep purple, green and that nasty yellow covered Kurt's normally snow-touched skin. The largest ones seemed to be centered around mid back, but there was also a giant blotch on one of his sides and what looked disturbingly like a set of hand-prints lingering on his upper arms.

Nick felt sick.

Someone had _done_ that.

Suddenly the knowledge that Kurt had been bullied took on a whole new meaning. He hadn't just been teased or had a few nasty pranks played on him, or whatever other things Nick had kind of imagined it had been up until this point. No.

Kurt had been beaten and, judging from the different states of those bruises, it had happened more than once. Nick had been living with the boy for a week and hadn't even noticed so much as a wince of pain, and those bruises must defiantly be painful considering that they were over a week old and still that bad (he prayed that they were more than a week old but he was totally going to have to keep an eye out just in case it was something even worse than he currently thought.) So Kurt must be used to dealing with pain like this. And that was all kinds of wrong.

And someone _did_ that to him. Presumable some guy (or group of guys) from his old school.

Nick's brain was suddenly re-analyzing all of their interactions together. The way Kurt would always be just a little more tense and quiet down whenever he (or anyone but Blaine) was in the room. The way Kurt was always awake and gone long before he was; the way Kurt's eyes followed him warily sometimes if he moved quickly or when he got frustrated.

He wasn't bigger than Kurt by a lot but he was bigger and his brain stalled as he realized that Kurt was probably waiting to see if he would hurt him. If he would lash out at the gay boy he was 'forced' to room with where no one else could see.

_Oh God. He's trying to see if I'm like _them_. The people who did that to him. _

He swallowed the lump in his through and made a vow to himself right then and there. _This is going to stop. I'm not going to give him a reason to fear me, and if I can help it _no one_ is ever going to hurt him like that again._


	3. Chapter 3

NOTE: So you know lots of these drabbles will appear out of chronological order. This is partially because that's just the way they came up in my head but it's also because the more angsty ones are likely to occur closer to Kurt's arrival at Dalton where as the more amusing ones happen after he's settled in a bit. If I posted them in chronological order everyone would have to work through the nastier ones first to reach the lighter-hearted stuff and I don't really want that, I prefer my drabbles to be a bit more of a mixed bag.

There will be some Klaine in this (it _is_ cannon and I like the pairing) so bits and pieces of it will appear, though most of it can probably be taken as just really good friendship. However some future drabbles may contain hints of other potential romantic interests for Kurt as I think Kurt could use a little appreciation from other sources and not be completely limited to Blaine.

3.) Casual

The first time it happened it literally took his breath away.

He'd been some weird combination of hurt and furious at the way the other boys had so casually dismissed him during Mr. Shuster's second 'boys' vs. girls' event (Artie's comment had been particularly painful, out of all the boys Artie had been the one that Kurt most considered to be a friend) so he had taken Puck's absentminded dare to heart and gone off to spy on Dalton. Oh he knew it was stupid. He wasn't really the type to do things like _spy_ on people (no matter what the jocks said) and even if he was he certainly hadn't been prepared to try to infiltrate a boarding school. But their words had hurt and his pride had convinced him to dive head first into this stupid _stupid_ mission and wouldn't let him back out of it once he'd arrived and realized what he was about to do.

For once he'd been thankful of the multitude of outfits he had to cart around regularly (in preparation for changes after dumpster dives and slushy attacks) as they had provided him with a close enough imitation to the uniforms he spotted boys wandering around in that a teacher shouldn't notice him immediately if he managed to slip into a crowd. He even had a semi-possible explanation for any questioning students as long as they didn't pry to hard.

It had seemed to be working too. Yes, he'd gotten a few odd looks as he wandered through the halls but no one had pointed him out and cried 'spy!' or dragged him off to beat him up yet so he figured it was going well, at least until he'd nearly swept along by a swarm of boys who had accidentally carried him through several halls and then down a staircase where an even larger mass of bodies was churning below.

Confused and slightly terrified at the thought of being stuck in the middle of that mob he did the only thing he could think of at the time. Grabbing the sleeve of a passing student he spat out his rushed excuse and asked what was going on.

The boy (who was surprisingly cute considering Kurt had just randomly snatched one out of the crowd) actually _smiled_ at him before doing something the Kurt would remember for the rest of his life.

He grabbed his hand.

For most it would have been a small thing, nothing of any great importance, but to Kurt it was so much more. Kurt was gay and everyone at his school, in all of Lima even, knew it. No boy would willingly touch him. Not unless they planned to hurt him. In fact, other than his father as his few female friends almost no one had touched Kurt (without intent to harm him) in nearly two years.

And yet a boy had just _willingly grabbed_ his hand with a _smile_ on his face. Bullies didn't smile like that, Kurt had enough experience to know, they might smirk or grin at the torture they were putting him through but they didn't _smile_.

Kurt knew at that moment, no matter what happened, he would always love this boy a little for that. Blaine would always have a place in his heart.

A month later he had transferred to Dalton and that was supposedly that.

Except it wasn't.

Three months at this new school. Three months of safety. Three months without having to worry about having his clothes ruined, being teased or have slurs throw in his face. Without slushies or dumpsters or shoves into lockers, without bruises and pain. Three months where he'd been in a place that didn't have danger lurking around every corner.

After three months the fear was finally starting to fade. He could usually manage to sleep through the night now and had mostly stopped flinching when something surprised him.

But he didn't know if he'd ever get used to _this_. The way Nick would throw an arm around his shoulders as they walked down the hall. The way David clapped him on the back. How Jeff would just reach over and tousle his hair. Mike's incessant need to glomp anyone with cooking skills and beg them for food. The way Rich would grab people by the arm to make them move faster and Flint's habit of lifting anyone smaller into the air just to hear them shriek. The way Blaine never paused before taking his hand or any of the times he twined their fingers together once he'd done so.

All that and a hundred other little things, casual touches, each one filling Kurt with a subtle awe as they never even seemed to think twice about offering them to _him_.

So instead he just took a moment to note each and every one, creating a mental catalogue in his head. These were precious things, absentminded in their deliverance but so glorious in their simplicity.

He never wanted to forget how wonderful they felt.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I was actually already working on this when one of my readers requested it. I hope you enjoy it Dodo!

4.) Conditioning

Kurt had been casually making his way through the halls to his literature class when it happened. A large form stepped behind and two arms quickly grabbed him and scooped him into the air.

Before he could even process what had happened his body was reacting to the familiar motion. He instantly went limp and docile to reduce the damage he would receive when he was inevitably thrown into the nearest dumpster, garbage can, or harsh ground.

_But he was at Dalton wasn't he? Wasn't this sort of thing no supposed to happen here? Had one of the jock's from McKinley snuck in somehow? Who-?_

"Dude?" The arms around him scrambled to catch him as he started to slip from the boy's suddenly awkward grasp. "What was that? I nearly dropped you man!" The figure then set him carefully back on his feet. Kurt turned only to be confronted with Flint's the startled but apologetic face.

Flint reminded Kurt an awful lot of Finn. Just like his new step-brother the boy was a _giant_. Seriously. He was 6' 7", only an inch and a half shorter than Finn himself, with a similar build and coloring. They could have been easily mistaken for twins from a distance. Up close however one could tell that Flint was actually a dirty blond, not a brunette, that he sported a pair of dark blue eyes, not Finn's plain brown, and that his nose was far less 'romanesque' than Kurt's brother's. But it wasn't just their looks. Flint had proved to be a caring, if playful, boy who did his best to help others and never seemed to say a bad word to anyone. He was the very image of a 'gentle giant.'

Kurt had instantly found the boy endearing and hoped that he might become a friend.

But what had just happened- _what had just happened?_ - left his mind reeling. He didn't even think he could form words right now.

"Kurt? Kurt you ok?" Flint was starting to look more worried as Kurt remained silent. "I didn't hurt you did I?

"W-what was that all about?" Kurt finally managed to force the question past his lips. He needed to know the answer. This was Dalton. He was supposed to be safe here. And if someone was going to attack him he had certainly never imaged that it would be _Flint_ of all people. _What was going on?_

"Oh. Nobody warned you about it?" A bit of embarrassment started to creep into his face as he took in Kurt's uncomprehending expression. "I do that all the time, lifting the smaller guys into the air. It's fun." He shrugged absentmindedly. "Here let me show you."

Kurt didn't even have time to voice his confused protest- had he been wrong about Flint all this time? Was he really just another bully in disguise? And no he certainly _did not_ want to see someone else suffer through whatever form of harassment this was! – before the tall boy had plucked another small form from a cluster of passing students.

The new boy instantly began flailing like crazy. "Darn it Flint! Put me down!" The boy laughed even as he tried to sound indignant. "I am not your personal teddy bear or something that you can just cart me around!" Flint (and the other boy's who had paused to watch the show) was grinning as he set the boy back down gently.

"Whatever you say Even."

The smaller boy let out an amused huff before grabbing his bag (which he'd dropped during the process) and heading off with a casual wave.

"See?" Still smiling Flint turned to face Kurt. "Guys usually flail and stuff when I do that. It's funny but they don't really mind." A flash of worry crossed his face as he studied Kurt's unmoving form. (Kurt really had no idea what to think. He was just grateful that apparently his fears were unfounded and that this was just some harmless game of some sort. Private school boys could be so _weird_ sometimes.) "But then again," Flint continued, "they don't usually…usually _collapse_ like you did. What _was_ that anyway? If you're afraid of heights or something I won't do it to you anymore."

"Oh." Kurt blinked, still slightly in shock from the whole scenario. "I don't have a problem with heights. I've just found that when you relax your body entirely the landing is a lot less painful."

Flint just stared at him in confusion. "Landing? But I wasn't going to throw you or anything. I just lift people up and set them down again, like you saw." He gestured vaguely in the direction Even and his friends had walked off in.

"That's good to know. I suppose its fine then. Anyway I have to get to class or I'm going to be late."

Kurt turned and made his way down the hall without ever hearing Flint's confused -"but why would someone be throwing you anywhere anyway?"


	5. Chapter 5

5) Stains

It was a regular day at Dalton. The weather was decent enough, for January, and classes hadn't been particularly difficult. Yes, some students where whining about not having had a longer holiday break but overall things where just fine.

Jeff was in the process of making his way to the table the Warblers usually claimed for lunch when it happened. It was an innocent accident. The kid, some poor (now terrified) freshman, had happened to stand up and swing his arm out just as Jeff was walking by, coincidentally knocking into the older boy and sending both him, and his food, to the floor.

Now this wouldn't have been all that bad, despite being a dancer Jeff was kind of a natural klutz and was used to minor bumps and bruises and could have easily brushed the whole thing off, if his food had actually ended up on the floor. And if he hadn't gotten the chicken parm. And if it hadn't landed on his _head_.

_I never knew marinara sauce could _burn_ so much when it got in your eyes._

There was a startled silence during which he could just _feel _everyone staring at him before the lunch room filled with the loud babble of boys alternately laughing, fussing and panicking over his current predicament. He might have cared more about the fuss but _his eyes were kind of burning over here and it really sort of hurt_.

A gentle lilting voice cut through the noise even as he felt a small hand grip his arm. "Come on Jeff. Let's go wash that stuff off. I'm sure it burns like hell." He let Kurt help him to his feet and guide him out of the cafeteria and towards what he assumed was a bathroom. "Try to keep your eyes closed for now. I'll just make it worse."

He heard a few of the other Warblers moving around them as they went apparently following along and clearing the way but he ignored it, trying to follow Kurt's advice as the smaller boy gently guided him down the hall and into what he assumed was the bathroom. It helped a little, or at least didn't make it any worse, so he figured that Kurt had at least some idea of what he was talking about.

"Ok Jeff. I need you to strip."

He heard one of the boys behind him; he thought it was Wes, guffaw at Kurt's sudden demand.

There was another moment of awkward silence in which he could almost hear Kurt rolling his eyes at the other boys before the countertenor elaborated. "You have sauce all over your clothes. If we start right now I can probably save them while we get you cleaned off."

Jeff didn't really see a point in protesting so he just tugged off his blazer and shirt accordingly. He heard water start running nearby and his clothes vanished from his hands. "Umm did you want my pants too?"

One of the boys behind him mumble-coughed something he didn't quite catch and several of the others snickered slightly. He would have glared if his eyes didn't hurt so much. It wasn't like they were doing anything helpful as far as he could tell so they really shouldn't be commenting.

"No, it looks like the sauce managed to miss them so they're fine." Those small hands touched his bare arms lightly and gently maneuvered him over until he was sitting in a chair. (He vaguely wondered where it had come from until he remembered that all the bathrooms seemed to have a small fold-out chair in the corner so students could throw jackets or bags there for a minute instead of on the floor.) Then his head was being tilted back and Kurt was giving him quiet warnings and words of encouragement as he worked. "This is going to be cold. Don't open your eyes just yet. There, ok, that's good. " Cold water was poured carefully over his face and those gentle hands were running softly threw his hair, cleaning him off. "Ok now try to blink a few times to let the water get the rest of the sauce out. It's going to sting but it'll be better afterwards. There that's it." It went on for a few more moments before the hands finally pulled away. "Alright. That should be enough. You can get anything else yourself. I'll work on your uniform."

Jeff lifted his head from the sink gratefully. The process hadn't taken long at all with Kurt's efficient help. He felt so much better now and intense sensation in his eyes had dulled to a slight sting that was quickly fading. Sitting up he spared a glance backwards Jeff easily made out the forms of Blaine, Wes, David, Nick and Thad still huddling in the doorway. Other than walking him here the boys hadn't done a thing to help and were just standing there staring at Kurt with a kind of awe. Looking at their faces Jeff had the feeling that if Kurt hadn't been there he would have been in pain for a lot longer while the other boys panicked and argued over how to help him. He turned around to look at his unexpected savior.

The slight boy had pulled off his own blazer and had his white sleeves rolled up past his elbows as he worked. He had Jeff's shirt and blazer in separate sinks and alternated between the two as he rubbed at the stains under the cold water. Pausing for a moment Kurt grabbed his messenger bag off the floor and quickly retrieved a plastic baggie filled with small bottles, a moist toilette and a washcloth. "Here," he handed the toilette and washcloth to Jeff. "You can use those to finish up and dry off some. They'll be better for you skin than paper towels." Then he removed two of the small bottles and poured some of each on both articles of clothing before scrubbing them fiercely. Kurt worked the stains like a pro, and within a few minutes both articles looked good as new. Jeff was honestly amazed. He remembered the last time Nick had gotten tomato sauce all over his uniform. Nick had just sighed before throwing it out and ordering a new one. Jeff honestly hadn't really believed it was possible to salvage his clothes but Kurt had not only done so, he had made it look _easy_.

The effeminate boy didn't seem to even notice the dropped jaws of the prep boys behind him, absently tilting his head to the side as he studied the white dress shirt. "Maybe a little lemon juice…" he mumbled before pulling out a third bottle. A quick spritz and another scrub later had him nodding approvingly. If Jeff hadn't known what had just occurred he wouldn't have ever even known it had happened.

"Well you'll have to hang them and let them dry of course but they should be good as new by tomorrow." Kurt turned to hand the clothes to the stunned blond. "What? All of you look like you just got punched in the gut or something."

"H-how did you _do_ that? You cleaned him up, even his uniform, in like _minutes_!" David stuttered out the question they were all thinking.

"Practice I guess. You need to get stains out right away and I spend far too much on clothes to let them get ruined if I can help it. Combine that with having to deal with everything and still get to classes on time I got used to working quickly." Kurt shrugged. "It's not that big a deal. So I'm good getting rid of stains. Why are you all so stunned?"

"I guess we've just never seen anyone do something like that before." Blaine piped up, waving his hand absently towards the wet clothes and Jeff. "You were super-effective at dealing with that. I know if I had tried to do what you did I probably would have just made it worse. Like completely ruined what was left of his uniform worse." He looked a bit embarrassed but all the other boys, including Jeff, nodded along. Jeff never would have even thought to try what Kurt had done on his own. Maybe it was one of the downsides of being raised with money but he, and probably the majority of boys at Dalton, had been raised to either call a maid or just get a new one when outfits got ruined like that, they'd never had to learn how to deal with it themselves.

The fact that Kurt could was kind of amazing.

Kurt still looked a bit confused but then he shrugged it off and gathered his bag. "In any case Jeff needs to run to his room and grab his spare uniform before class-" (Jeff suddenly remembered that he was still half naked) "and I don't know about the rest of you but I would at least like to attempt to finish lunch before the bell rings." The slight boy made shoeing motions at the Warblers still crowding the doorway. The other boys gave in and allowed themselves to be herded away, the call of food too great to ignore now that the distraction had been dealt with. Jeff caught Kurt just before he left.

"Hey. Thanks."

Kurt looked stunned for a moment, as if surprised at the simple recognition, but the slight smile that crossed his face a moment later was enough to take his breath away. "Don't worry about it. Let me know if you ever need help again ok?"

"Sure." Jeff just stared dazedly after the countertenor after he left. He'd never realized quite how beautiful Kurt was before.

x x x x x x x

AN: And yes Jeff just totally developed a crush on Kurt. I hadn't intended for that to happen at all (this was supposed to be entirely platonic) but then I got to the end and Jeff just insisted on it. He really wouldn't let it go. So eventually I gave in, I did say I would be throwing other potentials for Kurt in here after all. Jeff just demanded that he be one of them. ~Sigh~ Well what is an author too do but go with her muses, they always seem to win in the end anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, so this was actually supposed to be finished and posted sometime last week but well… life has a way of being distracting and so I only just finished it today. Unlike my other chapters this one actually covers a fair bit of time all on its own (probably like two or three weeks overall), sort of a series of drabbles making up a larger drabble, with several different POV's. Hopefully you'll like it as much as the other chapters I've posted so far. ^_^

6) Unavailable

"Hey Kurt! Over here." Nick called out to his roommate and gestured for Kurt to join the group of Warblers sitting at the table in the corner of the cafeteria. He grinned as the countertenor complied.

Nick had noticed that despite the other boy's confident air he tended to be a little shy when it came to approaching the other Dalton students (especially if they were in groups); almost as if he was afraid he wouldn't be welcome. He guessed that it must be hard transferring schools mid-semester like Kurt had, especially into one like Dalton where most of the boys had literally grown up together. Leaving your friends behind and then trying to find a place amongst new already-formed groups of friends must be horribly intimidating. Kurt didn't seem like a bad kid; sure his sense of humor was a little odd and Nick would never understand his apparent obsession with fashion (and his resulting wardrobe, which by being Kurt's roommate he had already been exposed too despite the fact that Dalton required it's students to wear uniforms and the fact that Kurt went home on the weekends), but he seemed cool enough and Nick figured he would fit in with the rest of the Dalton crowd soon enough if he was given the chance.

The boy in question slid into the open seat across the table from Nick's own, still looking slightly wary as he glanced at the other boys around the table, but also grateful for the invitation. Nick thought he had a good way to help fix that though. "So Kurt, maybe _you_ can help me convince Mike* here that when one is wooing a girl they _do not_ take her to a _video game convention_, at least not on your first date."

Kurt's look of surprise at being addressed was cut off by Mike's loud protest.

"Hey! It worked with Amelia didn't it? That was our first date and we stayed together for nearly a year!"

"That's only because she was strange," Nick snorted back, "regular girls aren't usually into that sort of thing."

"Wasn't she the one that dumped you because hanging out with you got in the way of her gaming time?" David added. "The one that was obsessed with WoW or whatever?"

Mike slumped in his chair, as if trying to make his tall lanky form smaller. He grimaced slightly and ran a hand through his short brown hair before letting out a reluctant affirmative.

"_Burn _man." The whole table shook their heads in sympathy before Thad piped up. "Dude when a girl is more obsessed with games than _you_ are then you _know_ there's an issue." The other boys around the table instantly injected with their own comments on the ex Mike had just mentioned or teasing him about his well known obsession. It was a running joke that if Mike hadn't had to attend classes they would never even see him because he was so attached to his various video game systems (and even now they could all see the DS poking out of his bag).

Meanwhile Kurt was now looking slightly scandalized as he processed what had occurred. "Wait, wait. You took a girl to a video game convention for a _first date_? And now you want to do it _again_? Even if she's into that sort of thing you'd usually want to wait till after the third for stuff like that. If you want to make a good impression you should try to make your first date as romantic as possible, any of the girls I know would dump you in a heartbeat if you pulled something like that on them!" The conversation flowed from there. Most of the boys still teasing and Kurt trying to pass on as much romantic advice as possible to first the boy in question, and then to more than half the table as other horrible past dating flops were brought up. Several of the boys seemed to be taking notes, Thad was even scribbling them down in a notebook, and Nick had a feeling that Kurt was quickly going to find himself in the position of relationship adviser to the often romantically-clueless boys if any of the advice he was spouting at the moment managed to pan out.

Things seemed to be going really well and Nick was feeling satisfied that Kurt finally seemed to be opening up a bit. A phone buzzed, and Nick didn't think much of it when Kurt pulled it out of his pocket and barely glanced at the screen before canceling the call. Kurt was finally connecting with some of the boys at his new school and he'd probably just call whoever it was back later.

s s s s s s s

Kurt was walking down the hall with Blaine and David as they made their way towards the advanced French classroom. Kurt and David shared the class together and Blaine had Latin in the room just across the hall so they often spent the short break between classes chatting together about this and that.

David was just telling the punch line of a joke he had heard over the weekend when Kurt's phone buzzed. He absentmindedly pulled it from his pocket only to end the call once he glanced at the screen.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Blaine questioned. "I know we technically aren't supposed to have them but none of the teachers ever bug us about our cell phones when we're in the halls. We still have a minute or so left before class starts so you can answer if you want to."

"Don't worry about it. They can leave a voicemail if it's important and I'll get back to them later." Kurt waved it off and they continued down the hall.

But even though Kurt had dismissed the incident so casually Blaine couldn't help but think it was a little strange. Kurt always answered his phone. He couldn't ever recall a time when the other boy hadn't picked it up before.

s s s s s s s

"Hey Kurt wait up!" Kurt paused on the walk towards the parking lot. Turning to face the school building he'd just recently exited he spotted Flint running towards him at a brisk jog. He waited patiently for the other boy to catch up to him, and wondered what was so important that the other boy felt the need to chase him down before he left for the weekend.

"Here man. You forgot your phone at Warbler's practice." Flint held out the small device and Kurt quickly grabbed it up and clutched it to his chest.

"Oh my Gaga. Thank you Flint. I don't know what I would have done without it. I hadn't even realized I'd lost it."

"Yeah, I know how attached you are to that thing. It probably fell out of your bag or something. I found it on the floor almost under the couch. In fact I probably wouldn't have even noticed it if someone hadn't kept calling you."

"Oh?" Kurt was just about to open his missed calls when the phone buzzed in his hands. Startled he stared at the screen for a moment before canceling the call without answering it.

Flint looked a little confused at Kurt's actions so he smiled to put the other boy at ease. "Don't worry about it Flint. Thank you for returning my phone, I'll see you on Monday."

He turned on his heel and left the still slightly confused boy behind him.

s s s s s s s

"Kurt." Nick knocked on the bathroom door to get his roommates attention. "Your phone's going off, I figured I'd let you know before I left, that's the third time since you got in the shower so you should probably answer it."

The pale boy opened the door dressed in loose pajama pants and a t-shirt, Kurt usual sleep wear, though he was still toweling his hair dry. "Thanks Nick, have fun at that concert with your sister."

"Will do." The green eyed boy gave Kurt a finger wave before grabbing his coat and making his way out towards the door. As he did so he noticed Kurt pick up the still vibrating phone from the desk only to frown at the screen slightly before turning it off.

He wondered if maybe Kurt was having a fight with one of his friends or something but, as he was already running a little late, he didn't bother to ask about it before he left. Kurt would probably make up with them soon anyway and if not he'd end up hearing about it later.

s s s s s s s

"Non-fat mocha and a medium drip please," Kurt turned and Rachel and Mercedes quickly added their own orders, "as well as a chai tea and a latte with extra whip." The three friends chatted avidly before collecting their order and joining Blaine at the table he'd grabbed for the four of them.

These meetings had become a fairly regular occurrence since Kurt had transferred to Dalton. It was a way for Kurt to stay connected with his friends from McKinley; primarily Mercedes though Rachel had quickly joined in on the weekly gatherings and occasionally one or two of the others would tag along as well. Blaine had initially been included so the girls could grill him for details about Kurt's new school and then continued to join them due to his growing friendships with the girls themselves. The conversations were filled with relationship updates and tales of pranks, complaints about teachers or overly stuffy school traditions, as well as more general blathering about the newest movie, favorite songs and other random topics.

Mercedes was in the process of describing Puck's newest plan for wooing Lauren; "I don't know why he's suddenly obsessed with her but ever since he convinced her to join Glee to fill your slot he hasn't shut up about her. I think it's 'cuz she's hasn't given into his 'charms' yet." when Blaine noticed Kurt pull his phone out of his pocket.

Someone was obviously calling, but instead of answering all Kurt did was frown at the screen before ending the call. Blaine had spied several scenes similar to this lately and it was starting to worry him a little. Who kept calling Kurt that he would hang up on like that? He had started to think that Kurt was having a fight with one of his friends, or even his Dad, but Blaine had been to Kurt's house just yesterday and everything seemed fine there and neither Rachel or Mercedes where acting like anything was amiss.

He was just about to ask when Rachel announced that a production of Wicked was going to be playing in Columbus next month and they all got swept up in the excitement of trying to make plans to attend.

In the end the moment to ask passed him by but the nagging idea that something was wrong with those phone calls just wouldn't leave Blaine alone.

s s s s s s s

They were in the cafeteria three days later when Blaine got the chance to broach the subject again. Several of the warblers had once again grabbed a table together and Kurt and Nick had been commiserating over their history professor's obsession with France as he always seemed to assign twice the amount of work when anything related to it came up in their curriculum, when once again the pale boy's phone had gone off. As seemed to be all too common lately, Kurt had barely glanced at the screen before ending the call.

"So what's up with that anyway?" Blaine gestured at the phone still in Kurt's hand. Admittedly it wasn't the smoothest way to phrase that particular question but he really wanted to know and wasn't keen on being distracted or brushed off by trying to be more subtle at the moment.

Kurt just looked slightly confused, as if he had no idea what Blaine was referring too, but Nick interjected before the countertenor could even try to respond. "Yeah man. Someone keeps calling you all the time and you just hang up. Not that I'm judging you or something if there's someone you're trying to avoid talking too or whatever but it's still a bit strange, is all, and it seems to be happening more often lately so we're just a bit curious."

Comprehension grew on Kurt's face followed by a look that seemed to be part embarrassment and part …shame? Kurt looked away before Blaine could quite put his finger on it and fiddled absentmindedly with his phone. "Oh. It's, well, it's nothing important really…I just…I don't pick up calls if number comes up as 'unavailable.'"

Blaine might have been willing to let it go under other circumstances but the way Kurt had said that…there was more to the story here. His eyes narrowed but Nick beat him to the punch. "And why is that exactly?"

Kurt was still avoiding their gaze, "It's just…it's one thing if it's just a number I don't know, but when the number shows up on my phone as restricted or unavailable it's almost always one of …_those calls_ …so I don't even bother to pick them up anymore. If it was just something innocent then the person will usually leave a message and I can just call them back. It's not that big a deal." Just from the slump of his shoulders and tone of his voice Blaine could guess exactly what type of calls Kurt meant, that was the same position Kurt had assumed whenever he'd opened up about the bulling he'd suffered before attending Dalton. Blaine had been under the impression that all of that had stopped when Kurt had transferred. Apparently he'd been mistaken.

A little shudder ran down his spine at the realization. Just because you didn't go to school with them anymore didn't stop the bullies from knowing your phone number, or from knowing where you lived for that matter. Some of the horror of that realization must have shown on his face because when Kurt glanced up he was quick to try to calm him down. "No one's tried anything. It's just some phone calls, and even then it's not like I bother to answer them anyway. It's really not that bad Blaine." He let out a strained little laugh. "I could just be over-reacting anyway. For all I know they're just telemarketers or something. It's more habit than anything that stops me from picking up."

Nick had paled upon grasping exactly what Kurt had been implying. "Wait, wait. You mean people actually call you to _harass you_?" The stunned shout grabbed the attention of the other boys nearby and Kurt visibly shrank in his seat as they instantly silenced their own conversations to focus on him.

An awkward quiet filled the air and Kurt looked as if he was desperately wishing for the ground to swallow him up. Blaine could sympathize, he had felt the same when he had been new here and the others had dragged information about his own problems out of him, but he needed to hear this too. He'd had the occasional 'prank' derogatory call to his house back when he'd still attended public school but they'd never been as persistent as they apparently (still) were to Kurt. The more he'd learned about the bulling Kurt dealt with the more he realized that it was _so much worse_ than anything he'd experienced. Each new revelation made him respect and admire Kurt just a little bit more but they also sickened him in a way he couldn't even describe that such a wonderful person had been forced to go through all that to begin with. No one should have been forced to deal with even half the crap that Kurt had and Blaine was sure that there was still more that he didn't know about yet. The thought settled like a block of ice in his stomach.

Wes was the one who broke the silence. "What's going on Kurt?" It was more of an order than a question. He was using his 'leader' voice, the one he often used in Warbler's rehearsals and that they had all been conditioned to listen too.

"It's just calls. You know. The 'You're a fag,' 'go burn in hell,' 'you don't deserve to breathe and we don't want you here' type. They usually use blocked numbers, so they can't be tracked I guess, and they never leave voicemails. They did once, on the house phone right when they first started and my dad called the cops and tried to press charges. I guess word got out after that so they don't anymore. It's really only an issue if we pick up the call." Kurt finally glanced up from his clenched hands and the imploring but slightly terrified look on his face made Blaine's heart ache.

The other Warblers just stared at him in a mixture of shock, and horror.

"Dude…" David blurted out.

Wes frowned, looking even more severe than normal, "That's not right." His brows furrowed in frustration at his inability to do anything about the situation.

The shock seemed to be wearing off the other boys and their looks switched to ones of anger and sympathy and a mixture of furious muttering and threats towards the callers filled the air. Nick was visibly trembling in his seat and Blaine could easily spot both Jeff and Flint's respective white knuckled fists. He himself was focusing on his breathing and keeping an eye on Kurt's reaction so he wouldn't jump out of his chair and do something stupid. There was literally nothing _any_ of them could to the perpetrators in this situation and that knowledge was the only thing preventing them all from shouting out curses and running off to beat up the jerks who'd had the atrocity to do such a thing in the first place.

Kurt's eyes where quickly jumping from boy-to-boy, taking in and analyzing their reactions to the news, Blaine was so focused on Kurt's face that he managed to catch the moment Kurt slightly scared confusion turned into a sort of stunned awe as he realized that their anger stemmed from a desire to try to protect him. That look of soft joy took Blaine's breath away in an entirely different manner than that of his own anger just moments before.

Kurt had straightened in his seat with his realization, and this time when he spoke his voice lacked that self-depreciating edge it had had before. Now it was confident and clear, meant to sooth and calm the boys around him. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, it's not really a big deal anymore. I know how to avoid them now so it's not really something that affects me."

"But Kurt…" Jeff's distressed inquiry trailed off into nothing as Kurt met his eyes with a steady gaze. They sat there, Kurt slowly locking eyes with each of the boys until they calmed down.

"Why don't you just change your number?" Thad questioned. "Wouldn't that, ya'know, stop it?"

Kurt just shrugged. "I have tried that before, but they always seem to manage to get the new one soon enough. It's really more of a hassle to change my number so I've stopped bothering. Besides its better that they call my cell than the house anyway; I'm used to this sort of thing and know how to deal with it if I do happen to pick up the phone without checking first, but my dad doesn't deal with the stress well and it's not good for his heart."

"Wait." Austin, a blond Warbler with nicely coifed hair, piped up from down the table a look of growing realization. "You said you don't ever answer calls from restricted numbers right? No wonder you never pick up when I call you!" He raised his hands as in remorse and turned to Kurt with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm so sorry man. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything."

Richard, Austin's best-friend, quickly added from across the table "yeah, this dude is like, allergic to voicemail." He shook his head in amused frustration, "So you'd think he'd learn to text like the rest of us but his mom has him so conditioned to calling people that he doesn't even remember that he can half the time." Austin just frowned and half-heartedly chucked a butter packet at his friend.

Kurt looked initially stunned but then just watched in growing amusement as the two continued to bicker lightly, conveniently breaking the tension from before. "Well just let me program your number into my phone then so I can pick up in the future." He arched an eyebrow in the general direction of the remaining boys, several of which had suddenly started looking abashed after Austin's confession. "And if anyone else needs to contact me you can just text me your number or leave a voicemail and I'll add you to my contacts list." An amused smirk crossed his face when Trent and Leo shot him shy smiles in response.

Blaine was happy to realize that a lot of those 'unavailable' calls would be ending shortly as they apparently hadn't been meant to harass Kurt at all, but rather been an innocent misunderstanding caused by the boys around him. By the time the bell rang for class the conversation had returned to more generic topics and everyone was smiling and laughing again.

However he wasn't alone in silently communicating around the table (whenever Kurt was being sufficiently distracted) with the other boys. Kurt was one of _them_ now, not just because he was a fellow student and singer but because he was quickly becoming a _friend_, and they would do everything in their power to prevent him from being hurt like that again.

x x x x x x x

For those who don't know WoW stands for World of Warcraft, a very popular online video game.

1) Since the only warblers who actually have names are Blaine, Wes, David (who if you don't already know are the two who confront Kurt as being a spy with Blaine and are on the council), Jeff, Nick (the two who are in the hallway with Kurt after he auditions for the solo), and Thad (the third council member who speaks in the valentine's day episode) I have decided to name a few of them (and any other Dalton students or teachers who end up showing up in this fic) myself. Some of these names (like Flint) may be recognizable because they are already fanon-popular (I keep waiting for one of the cannon warblers to actually be named Flint because that name is everywhere) while others won't be. Below is a list of names (both mine and the cannon ones) paired with their Warbler-actor counterparts so you can have a visual image to connect them with should you desire it. I don't know the names of all actors that have played warblers on the show but I think I'm managed to find most of them and here they are. (If you know of any I've missed let me know and I'll add them in later.)

Warblers and their actors list:

Blaine – Darren Criss

Wes – Telly Leung

David – Titus Makin

Jeff – Riker Lynch

Nick – Curt Mega

Thad – Eddy Martin

Flint – Jon Hall

Trent – Dom Barnes

Austin Richmond (sometimes called 'Rich') – Aaron Page

Travis – James David

'Leo' Leonardo – Matt Hall

Richard – Cord Jackman

Jamil – Nelson Beato

'Benny' or 'Ben' Benjamin – Brock Baker

'Mike' Michael – Luke Ldegmon

…and now for a total fan-girl moment…

***OMG Klaine is finally officially cannon! ~squeals and jumps around like a maniac~ We all knew it was coming but after waiting for so long it totally surprised me that they had it happen in the Original Songs episode. At this point I was honestly expecting them to make us wait until after regionals before they actually got together so it was a lovely, beautiful, completely fan-girling episode for me. …And yes I still can't get over it over a week later…so happy… ~swoons at the memory~


	7. Chapter 7

7) 'Punks' on Campus

David realized that something was up as soon as he stepped out of the main building on his way to the Warblers hall. The mass of boys exiting the building had slowed to a near standstill, small groups instantly turning to each other whispering and gesturing sharply towards the edge of the parking lot. Curious, David craned his neck and shifted through the crowd until he had a better view.

It was a punk.

Well, that was the word that instantly popped into David's head when looking at him anyway. David had no idea what this guy was doing on Dalton's campus, he certainly didn't fit in.

The boy in question was leaning casually against the most beaten up pick-up truck David had ever seen, the paint was so faded, chipped and covered in dirt that he could only guess that it had once been red. And the boy himself was even more out of place here than his car was in the lot filled with shiny Porches and Mercedes. His baggy jeans were ripped and full of holes, his shirt a slightly dirty looking white T with the sleeves ripped off to show his muscled arms. Big and fit, the guy looked tough and that look was only emphasized by the mohawk that decorated his otherwise bare skull. The slight frown on his face and the way his hands were jammed in his pockets as he slouched there, projecting cockiness and a general sense of 'give me a reason and I'll beat the shit out of you' didn't help either.

Yeah, classy rich boy this guy was _not. _So the question was _what is he doing here_? Guys like that didn't just wander onto the grounds of an upper-class private school for no reason. It was also obvious that he wanted to be noticed. Between his location and distinct difference in appearance (both which just screamed _notice me!_ on a campus like this, though David was sure this guy would have been spotted pretty quick even if he had tried to put on a uniform, the mohawk was kind of obvious) word of his presence would be traveling around the school in seconds.

David really hoped the guy wasn't here to cause trouble, though he sort of doubted they'd be that lucky. It wouldn't be the first time the overprotective boyfriend or brother of a girl one of the Dalton boys had met while out on the town had come by to 'show the rich punk not to mess with their girl/sis.' He just hoped that campus security got here before a fight broke out. Looking like he did, this guy was probably a hot head, and if he got set off he might do some real damage before he was stopped.

While many of the boys were lingering around the doors of the school, obviously willing to wait to find out what was going to happen, a few continued on their way to their cars or the other buildings nearby. They all gave the punk a wide birth, eyeing him warily just in case, but his eyes passed dismissively over each of them. Disregarding them as not being whomever he had come here for.

David debated, rocking back-and-forth on his heels. As one of the Student Council members it was his job to act in situations like this. Should he call campus security before this guy could start something? But what if he was mistaken? Appearances weren't everything and the dude hadn't actually done anything wrong yet. David didn't want to jump the gun if the guy was just giving someone a lift or something. He had just decided on going over to attempt to talk to the guy (to better determine his intentions and hopefully not get beaten up in the process) when all of a sudden the punk pulled out of his slouch, eyes locked on a figure that had just exited the building.

"Yo! Princess!"

David turned to see that the person the punk had so rudely called out to was none other than Kurt Hummel, Dalton's newest transfer and shiny new warbler. Knowing what he did of the reasons for why Kurt had transferred in the first place David felt a ball of ice form in his stomach. Was this one of the jerks who had chased the boy out of his old school? Had one of them actually followed the slight countertenor here just to continue the torture? Ice quickly started to turn to the fire of anger on the younger boy's behalf only to have it stifled as he took in Kurt's reaction, or rather, lack there of. The slight boy didn't seem scared at all, confused yes, but there wasn't a hint of fear as he approached the large intruder with barely a pause.

"Noah?* What are you doing here?"

Well it seemed like Kurt knew this dude, somehow. Were they friends? David was surprised, the guy looked like a badass, just the type of guy who would have made Kurt's life hell, not someone he'd imagined the other boy hanging out with. But there was Kurt, calling the kid by his first name.

"Sup Hummel." The mohawked boy, Noah, looked lost for words now that the fabulous countertenor was actually there. "I'm just," he shrugged and ran one had over his strip of hair, "um, just checking up on ya."

"What do you mean 'checking up on me'?" Kurt's voice had lowered the tiniest bit and a hand was situated on his jutting hip. That line and the lift of one of Kurt's delicate eyebrows had the other boy all but tripping over his own tongue to explain. It was actually kind of amusing, watching someone who was obviously a 'badass' so quickly reduced to verbally fumbling over himself by someone as tiny and unthreatening as Kurt.*

"Nothin' bad or anything. Just you know, making sure that the dudes here are treating you right. I know this place is supposed to be safer for you an' all but it's still full of boys. Yeah, on one hand it could be like your gay Hogwarts heaven but what if one of 'em just tries to use you and then hangs you out to dry? And this is some stupid rich punk place or something so what if they get on you for not being enough like them? Just 'cuz they aren't allowed to hit you doesn't mean they can't pull shit. I know your good with the verbal warfare crap but guy like this, rich dudes, their like raised in it or something so if it gets nasty it'll probably be like _really_ nasty. So just…ya' know… if they start getting up on you, for anything, just let me know and I'll put 'em straight for ya the old fashioned way." He shrugged one of his muscled shoulders to emphasize his point. "Your still one of us you know, even if you did have to leave, so I'm just say'in that I've got your back. If you ever need anything just give me a call and I'll take care of it."

Kurt just stood there blinking for a moment. David (as well as many of the other boys who'd stuck around to watch the show) was extremely surprised by the turn of events that had transpired. This punk had come here to offer to defend Kurt from _them_! Really? Who did this guy think they were? Ok, so Kurt had obviously had bad experiences that he'd been forced to transfer here in the first place and yeah on some level it was kind of nice in a way, the guy (Noah) was obviously looking out for his smaller friend, but then why hadn't he done that before-"That's…kind of sweet actually." His train of thought was interrupted by Kurt's response. "Thank you Noah. However it is entirely unnecessary and I most certainly will _not_ have you going back to Juvie just because of some ridiculous attempt to 'save' me."

Wait, did Kurt just say this guy had been to Juvie! As in like prison? Why did Kurt even know this guy! David and just about every boy in the area subconsciously leaned backwards as that realization (and the understanding that if any one of them did actually hurt Kurt, not that they would but still, would be on the bad side of this large punk who had already been to _prison_) registered.

Kurt and the other boy (Noah) just stared at each other for a while before Noah (and that name just didn't quite seem to fit with this criminally inclined punk in David's head) nodded slightly in acceptance. "I know you're good at looking after yourself, you're like a freakin' Ice Queen. But you got shaken way worse than usual and I don't want one of these preppy little punks taking advantage of that." He glanced around the crowd again. "Speaking of preppy punks, where's that curly headed limpet of yours? Isn't he like permanently attached to your hip or something?"

Kurt flushed red and glared. "Blaine is not a limpet and despite popular opinion we don't spend every waking moment together." Noah responded with a smirk. "That's not what Finn says." Kurt huffed and opened his mouth to respond when-speak of the devil- Blaine appeared.

"What's going on? Who is-? Oh hi Puck. What are you doing here?" Blaine casually slid into the place beside Kurt, standard charming smile in place. A sudden tension filled the air around the small group. Puck (now that sounded more like it), had pulled himself to his full height, so he towered over the smaller boy, with his muscled arms crossed over his wide chest. He was leveling a weighty, judging, look at Blaine who was either trying to deflect it with his smile or just outright ignoring it.

Finally a hissed "_Noah!_" from Kurt had the much larger boy turning his attention away from Blaine and back to the person he had come to see.

Puck looked the countertenor firmly in the eye. "Don't let them get the better of you just because their fancy. You never let us change you. Don't let them." Another brisk nod and then he turned and hopped into his battered truck and took off leaving a stunned (and still slightly horrified) audience in his wake.

"Hey do you think that was Kurt's boyfriend? Or maybe like ex-boyfriend or something?" David jumped (biting his lip to contain the startled shriek) as Tent commented next to him. When the hell had he gotten there? David just glared at his fellow warbler as he tried to calm his racing heart and subtly sooth his bitten lip with his tongue.

"Oh come on! At the very least it means that Blaine totally has a rival for our dear little Kurt's affections. That guy was really pulling out the overprotective 'get your hands off my man' vibes."

"You're crazy Trent. Your lack of a girlfriend is making you see things."

"Oh you're just saying that because you don't want to admit that you and Wes are harboring years of unrequited lust for each other that you try to cover up with your particularly flaming bromance."

"For the last time me and Wes are not lusting after each other. He has a girlfriend. So do I. One that I care for very much. You're just crazy."

Trent waved his hand as if to brush the comment away. "Psssh. You'll realize the truth someday David and then you'll look back on this moment and see just how totally right I was."

David just rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the insanity that was Trent, casually joining the crowd of boys that was finally moving again now that the show was over. He had a warbler's rehearsal to get to.

x x x x x x x x

Note: Timeline-wise this is just after sectionals. When watching the Warblers perform you can see that Kurt looks slightly out of step with everyone else and seems far more subdued than normal and that glance at Puck's face we see has him looking pretty pissed about something. Taking my author's license I've decided that Puck was worried about Kurt (as well as feeling a bit guilty over him leaving) and so he drove out to Dalton to make sure everything was ok.

In this story their will _only be Puck/Kurt friendship_ (though if PuckxKurt fans want to make more out of it that's fine.) I'm a Kurtsie myself so I ship him with just about anyone (under the right circumstances) but lately I've really like the idea of Puck really trying to be a better friend (almost big brotherly) to Kurt after Kurt was forced to leave so that's what I'm trying to explore a little bit here. (Even if I _do_ have others imply that they have more going on ;) cue the drama!)

As for any future wavid scenes…well we'll just see where this story leads. (Though I'm going to guess at a lot of implied stuff while they vigorously hold onto their girlfriends ;) )

(*1) I've always seen Kurt as someone who calls others by either their first name (if he likes them) or their last (if he doesn't or is angry). I don't remember Kurt ever calling Puck by his nickname on the show (though I might be mistaken) only by his last (when Puck was still bullying him) and then he just sort of stopped addressing him as Puck 'glee'd up' and (kinda) reformed. So now that they're friends I'm having Kurt use Noah's first name, as sort of a symbol of the change (and 'cuz I like it darn it!). In my mind Kurt is one of a very small number of people who Puck allows to use his first name, the others being Rachel (as a fellow Jew), his mother and his little sister.

(*2) Obviously David has yet to see Kurt 'diva out' let alone get angry because we all know that Kurt can be very scary if you get on his bad side.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: I made a typo in chapter 6. I misspelled one of the actor's names, its Luke Edgemon not Luke Ldegmon. Thank you to _Lilynette_ for pointing that out. And a big thank you to all of my reviewers, favoriters and author alerters you are all so amazing!

8) Game Night

"Kurt! Kurt! You have to help me man!"

Kurt head snapped around to face the door as Jeff charged into his room with a yell. Jeff was Nick's best friend and so it wasn't uncommon for the blond to barge into their room, often quite loudly (and admittedly Kurt was starting to get used to the random interruptions), though the name he was usually shouting as he did so was Nick's. However Kurt hadn't been expecting the boy to drop by today as 1) his roommate wasn't here and 2) he knew tonight was 'Game Night,' an event of which both Nick and Jeff were avid participants, so the sudden loud intrusion took him by surprise.

Kurt wondered what the boy wanted with him.

Thankfully Jeff seemed to feel inclined to inform him as he immediately jumped into the desired explanation without prompting. "Kurt you're just the person I need! As you know Nick abandoned us all to go see he girlfriend this weekend so now we're down a player! Please help us out?"

Kurt quirked an eyebrow, allowing it to convey his skepticism at such a statement. "You mean your _Call of Duty_ match or whatever? I'm sure you could get along fine without me."

Jeff plopped on Kurt's bed with a pout. "Come on man please? I know you've said you don't play but our usual fill-ins have all ditched us! Mike and Travis also went home and Flint has a big test on Monday so he's hold-up in his room studying, our non-Warblers, Todd, Rick and Jason are all out at some basketball game and even Blaine is away for his Dad's fundraiser or whatever. We _need_ another guy, I don't care if you've never played before in your life or if your awful at it or whatever reason you have for not joining us just please please please make an exception and help us out tonight?"

Kurt really should have been finishing his history paper (which he had been working on before Jeff charged in) but Jeff was right there, staring at him with his giant blue puppy-dog eyes and he felt himself cave (it wasn't due till Thursday anyway, he had time). "Fine. But just for tonight. And you better not make fun of me when I inevitably mess up and get our whole team killed."

Jeff jumped off the bed with a bright smile and a whooping "YES!" before grabbing Kurt by the arm and dragging him down to the lounge the boys had dubbed 'The Game Room.'

s s s s s s s

"You have to be lying. There is no way. No Way. You haven't ever played this before." Wes tossed his controller onto the couch as Kurt's character killed him. Again.

"Dude, it's called beginners luck," David called across the room with a laugh. "You're just pissed because he's not on your team!"

"I don't think beginners luck includes almost single-handedly assassinating the opposing team _six times in a row_." Wes glared back at David before tossing a pillow at his friend's head. David dodged even as he continued to crack up at the frustrated expression on Wes's face.

Jeff leaned over to clap Kurt on the shoulder. "You're doing great man! I'm so glad I asked you, you've got mad skills at this!"

Kurt did his best to try to suppress the blush that rose at Jeff's compliment, he'd figured he was doing well, but it was nice to hear it from someone else. This game didn't seem nearly as complicated as the complaints he'd heard from Finn made it sound nor was it quite as boring as he'd always imagined it would be, the laughter and comments from the other boys made it all far more interesting and fun.

"But really Kurt, tell us the truth. Have you really never played CoD before? Because you're like, awesome at it, you must have had some practice." Tony, one of the non-Warbler boys in attendance piped up. Most of the boys turned to look at Kurt expectantly and this time Kurt couldn't fight off the embarrassed flush that rose in his cheeks. Why were all the boys so insistent on pressing the subject? Kurt had easily admitted his lack of experience with the game as soon as Jeff had announced to the other boys that he had found 'their savior' and shoved a controller into Kurt's hands, so the boys wouldn't fault him as they played, however his apparent 'winning streak' had had them teasingly questioning his honesty on the topic off and on for a little over an hour now.

He rolled his eyes. "No guys, I really haven't. Sure, I tried out a few one person RPG's when I was younger but I never really got into them. So unless you count overhearing Finn and Puck cursing at his TV when they get killed then I don't."

"Wait, you've really never played? Not once? Even with marathons going on in your house?" David turned to look at him with a confused expression. "I mean, I'm not into _Harvest Moon,_ or any of those pet games my sister likes but I've still played each of them at least once just because they were there, and those are all one person games. CoD is totally a 'grab everyone you can' type, especially if you've already got a bunch of guys over. How did you manage to _avoid_ it? They must have asked you sometime, did you really say no?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't get asked to things like that. Its fine, like I said I'm not really into games anyway."

"Wait, What?" Wes spun around from his place on the floor to face Kurt. "What do you mean you 'don't get asked'? I thought those guys were your friends? And they don't even bother to invite you?"

"That's just wrong dude, 'game nights' are like 'sleepovers' for guys. We may not do each other's nails or braid our hair or anything but this is how we bond man. Stuff like this is how you really get to know other dudes." Jeff frowned.

The topic of conversation was hitting a little too close to home and Kurt couldn't hold back the sharp quip that slipped out in response. "That's exactly the point I suppose. Most guys don't want me getting that close to them." Most of the boys gaped at his slightly bitter tone.

David started to speak, "Kurt…?" but couldn't seem to get anything more than that out. A slightly guilty expression was starting to form on his face and Kurt knew that the boy didn't know what to say. Kurt had been at Dalton for several months now and several of the boys (mostly the Warblers) had learned a bit about what he'd had to deal with before transferring; however none of them had ever seen this part of him before, the part that was still a spiky defense created by his bitterness and resentment caused by suffering years of 'passive' abuse. Growing up as an 'obviously gay' boy in small town Ohio had hurt him in many ways, and these boys hadn't realized they were picking at the scabs. Kurt took a deep breath to calm down and try to be a bit more rational, he shouldn't be snapping at the few people who were finally treating him like he was normal just because they didn't realize the he was used to getting the short end of the stick.

It seemed that a bit of explanation was in order. "Not everywhere is like Dalton. I've been 'different' ever since I was a young child and so was never considered to be 'acceptable boy material' and so was never included in the things that 'normal' boys did. Sure, the guys from McKinley are my friends now, but we didn't use to be. Up until last year Puck and Finn were throwing me in dumpsters on a nearly daily basis." He realized that perhaps he was being a bit unfair when representing his now-brother and the other glee boys, while everything he'd said was the truth, their attitudes had been gradually improving ever since they'd all joined glee. "And I suppose it's not entirely their fault either," he added quietly, "I haven't actually asked to be included in any of their tournaments or anything since we've become closer so it's not like they did it on purpose."

"Growing up I was never invited to anything like that; I was always 'that-gay-kid' and so when I did ask to hang out it was always 'why would I hang with a freak,' or 'like I'm going to let you come over and infect us too' not to mention the 'I'm a guy dude, why would I want to do girl stuff?' responses. As you might guess, hanging out didn't happen. By now they're probably so conditioned to _not_ hanging out with me that even though they've gotten to know me a bit better the idea of inviting me along to that sort of thing doesn't even cross their minds. After all 'That's just the way things are'…or at least, that's how it's always been in Lima." Kurt took a deep breath, surprised that that had come out as calm as it had considering that he'd just touched on a major source of frustration and sadness that still bothered him today, however he was glad he'd been able to keep his composure, tears would have only made it seem like he was looking for pity.

The boys around him looked absolutely horrified at his revelation, obviously never having imagined just how hard thing might be for a guy like him growing up around here before. He didn't want to end it like that though; he hadn't told them that because he wanted them to feel sorry for him, he'd told them because he wanted them to understand where he was coming from and how different being here was for him. "I'm sorry if I snapped but I'm still not used to all this," he gestured vaguely at the crowd of boys around him, "being accepted like this. It's so strange to me because you guys act so differently from what I grew up with. You're all so open and accepting all the time and it's strange, amazing, but strange." He ended with a shy smile, thinking of how casually they kept including him in all sorts of things he'd never really had the chance to experience before.

His complement helped mollify the boys and, even though they were obviously still digesting what he'd revealed, he saw smiles break out around the room when he told them they were making a difference.

After a moment of only slightly awkward silence Jeff turned to him with a slightly confused expression "…but dude I know Nick totally invited you to join us on game nights weeks ago. Why didn't you come then?"

Kurt shrugged. "I guess the boys back home aren't the only ones who got 'conditioned.' I learned a long time ago that it's usually better to avoid unnecessary harassment. And after seeing the _horror_ that is the aftermath of one of Finn and Puck's gaming marathons I truly wasn't all that interesting in joining anything that could involve _that much junk food_ being either consumed or ground into every available surface nor in destroying my completion staying up for days on end just to kill animated characters. They looked like zombies and the _filth_. _Uggk_! Not to mention the smell." He scrunched his nose and shivered at the traumatic memory of having to clean up after the two slobs. "Well that just turned me off to the whole thing." The other boys laughed at his very 'Kurt-like' response (Kurt's horrified reaction to messes was already a well known fact on campus) correctly assuming that he was ok for now.

"Well beginner's luck or no I'm going to beat you this time!" Wes challenged.

"Yeah, your just thinking that maybe if you throw the chips on the floor at a key moment he'll be so horrified that he'll forget the game and you'll finally be able to beat him." David snorted. Jeff and several of the other boys started chuckling a Wes's dumfounded expression. "H-how…why would you think I'd stoup to such uncouth behavior?" The now blushing boy stuttered, only to look around the room appalled as everyone broke into even louder laughter at his near admission of indeed thinking such a thing.

"Tut-tut Wes. You shouldn't use Kurt's fear of crumbs in the carpet against him. After all he might revolt in protest and then who would clean up after you the next time you trash the kitchen." Jeff added in only to get punched in the arm by both of the boys in question. After that they all settled into an easy exchange of jokes and light hearted ribbing the gaming was started up again and they continued well into the night.

It was casual and fun for all and if, perhaps, each one of the Dalton boys put just a tad more effort into making sure that the evening was enjoyable for their newest member, well, nobody commented on it.


End file.
